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What to work on to improve?


BigBamBoo

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So....I have been shooting USPSA for about 6 years. Started with limited. Played with revolver very briefly. Then my eyes started going. Switched to PCC. Went back to pistol in Dec in Open devision because I missed shooting pistol.

 

But....I just do not seem to be progressing. I will admit right up front that I really do not practice much. Mainly due to life and time available. I am able to dry fire daily and have some books on it.

 

I want to make an effort to do more live fire training. So what or where do I focus on?

 

I am 50 years old, and as mentioned above...eyes are not what they use to be (wear prescription glasses)...I don’t move fast...and just wonder is there any hope for making any substantial gains at this point?

 I am a middle of the road B shooter currently. 

 

Thanks

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I do have videos....and I do see some things I could do different. And do try and “fix” those issues....the problem is when the timer goes off, all those things go out the window.

 

was thinking of a course, but there never seems to be any close to my neck of the woods.

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24 minutes ago, BigBamBoo said:

I do have videos....and I do see some things I could do different. And do try and “fix” those issues....the problem is when the timer goes off, all those things go out the window.

 

was thinking of a course, but there never seems to be any close to my neck of the woods.

 

What about Shasta and Tehama? If you are a mid B you are doing something right. I'm 63, wear glasses, shoot Open C class. Been at it 2 years. I've made many mistakes, but not as many as I used to. I have had great stages and really bad ones. The more Matches I can get to, the better. Find time and effort. Attend a Match and find someone that post that Match online. I see where I make my mistakes. There are people of all size, shape, age and speed. They usually can out shoot me. Just pull it together. Watch your vids, study others, learn the fastest way to shoot a stage. Be relaxed and stay confident. Sounds easy, but your mental state is very important. I find if I down play the jokes and games before it's my turn, I do better. 

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Have you asked you local M or GM for advice, or if they’re interested in coaching you if you put the work in and offer to pay for a lesson?

 

I will say flat out that you need to learn to memorize and visualize a stage plan, based on what you said. It took me three seasons to be able to execute a stage plan consistently on the first try, but learning that was a huge help.

 

You also need to decide where your focus is: to advance in classification you need to work on gunhandling and speed shoots. But it sounds like your hangup in match placement is executing stage plans. That’s largely a separate thing.

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Thank you for the input.

 

i think it is just everything combined! 

 

Here are couple of stages from Sat at our clubs USPSA and from this years Golden bullet.

 

Unfortunately we do. It have ay GM or M open shooters at our club.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

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Things I picked up on:

 

Transitions. A good Open shooter facing two or three targets side by side in a field course sounds damn nearly full auto and not bangbang... bangbang...

 

You tossed a few seconds away in a stage or two by not setting your feet up in a way that would let you hit all the targets in one port without shuffling you feet for each one. Each time you move your feet it adds roughly 0.5 seconds to the following shot, if not more.

 

You stand up tall when shooting on the move — and wind up pausing a footfall in order to make a hit because of the resulting bouncing in the dot. Watch videos of chris tilley and JJ Racaza (the most dynamic open shooters) and you’ll see how low they get.

 

Your footwork. You shuffle and often times have nearly all your weight on one foot. Plant and aim for 50/50 weight distribution whenever it’s practical to get it.

 

The big one though, you know about. A lack of aggression due to you halfway memorized stage plans.  You look like you’re trying to recall what you’re supposed to do next while you’re shooting or moving... instead of moving decisively.

 

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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100% agree.

 

i am big and slow....years of heavy lifting and military life in my younger years and then a head on collision with a drunk drive a couple of years ago has robbed me of a lot of fast movement.

 

it is hard for me to get moving and then hard to for me to slow down. I have been adding sprints to my cardio workouts though and that seems to help a bit.

 

I would love to be able to run the trigger faster, but as you see in the videos, that is as fast as I can run the trigger.

 I have tried not aiming and just shoot the berm trying to pick up trigger speed. I think that is as fast as my finger will ever be.

 

 So I will have to try and move faster in other areas.

 

thanks again.

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You don’t need to shoot faster. Your splits are fine. You need to get the gun snapped to the next target sooner.

 

Your movement is off only because you’re standing up rather tall. Get low and learn to stay there. It takes a lot of work, but a low COG is the key to accelerating sooner, stopping more smoothly and quickly, and shooting on the move better.

 

You don’t need to do things faster. That’s what you’re missing. Be more efficient. Do it all sooner.

 

My shooting on the move always stunk, so I put a little work in on that as outlined above. If my thighs aren’t burning a little bit from being low and in a wide stance the entire stage, I can use that to tell I’m giving up mobility.

 

Here’s where I’m at right now when shooting on the move: getting hits on easy targets is something I’m now confident in. (Dropped 3 C’s on this entire stage.)

 

 

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I have been shooting uspsa just about a year and half.. Just turned 50, I'm on the verge of making master class in limited division.. What's helped me the most is, the obvious, lots of dryfire... , movement is key , this allows me to know where I can make up time.. I. E shooting on the move where I know I can execute excpetable hits.. But the most important one for me is come up with a my own stage plan that I can I execute on a dime once once I visualize the hell out of it.. Visualize, visualize, and visualize.. 

GL. 

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Efficiency, efficiency, then some more efficiency. When I make a stage plan, one of the #1 things I try to do is to "multitask", if you will. In an array that a lot of shooters will shoot standing still, I try to start moving to the next position while shooting - or at least leaning/shifting weight. Try to never stop and "plant" both feet - I understand some harder shots require this, but that's fairly seldom. In stage planning, think about how your body/foot position will affect the the time it will take to get to the next position/shot (ex. coming out of a hard lean to a run to another position vs only a slight lean). 

Caveat: this adds much more to remember during a stage plan - begin to try this if no problem remembering the basics of a plan (shoot all targets, order of positions, etc).

 

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You're doing good. On the first video, when you approach the 4 targets at the end and then move left for the last 3. As soon as you see the 4 targets, shoot on the move. It takes practice. Also, I think you went too deep down range, you had to take a step back to engage the last 3 targets. Setup in between those 7 targets. Snap over fast as you can left, for the last 3. As close as they are, it will take pulling that trigger a bit faster. I'm not there yet, but still trying and working on it. One day I'll get to a B 😐. I have talked to a few GM's and squaded with them to see where I am lagging behind. It's a great Sport and love it, just takes time behind the gun. 

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13 hours ago, MemphisMechanic said:

My shooting on the move always stunk, so I put a little work in on that as outlined above. If my thighs aren’t burning a little bit from being low and in a wide stance the entire stage, I can use that to tell I’m giving up mobility.

 

Here’s where I’m at right now when shooting on the move: getting hits on easy targets is something I’m now confident in. (Dropped 3 C’s on this entire stage.)

 

 

Yep, that's how it's done. Nice movement. 

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Thank you all for the input.

I have LOTS to work on. Movement is where I am weak I think.

And yes, I notice a lot of wasted movements as far as shooting position. I seem to always over shoot the spot I want to be in....as I stated above...it is hard for me to get moving and hard for me to stop.

 

Jack...that was a par time classifier,  and I wanted a good sight picture. Yes, took me a sec to get it where I wanted it, but I made all my shots in the 5 seconds.

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15 hours ago, BigBamBoo said:

I seem to always over shoot the spot I want to be in

 

As @MemphisMechanic said above, getting and staying low will help tremendously with that. Also make it a priority to have the gun up before you have targets in front of you to shoot - as the brakes come on to slow down into a position, the gun should come up at the same time. 

You're shooting the fun division though 😈

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19 hours ago, BigBamBoo said:

Thank you all for the input.

I have LOTS to work on. Movement is where I am weak I think.

And yes, I notice a lot of wasted movements as far as shooting position. I seem to always over shoot the spot I want to be in....as I stated above...it is hard for me to get moving and hard for me to stop.

 

Jack...that was a par time classifier,  and I wanted a good sight picture. Yes, took me a sec to get it where I wanted it, but I made all my shots in the 5 seconds.

isn't that Everglades holster the best thing ever!!!

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1 minute ago, Furrly said:

isn't that Everglades holster the best thing ever!!!

 

I believe so! I like it much better than the Double Alpha I use to use. Some of the other Open shooters at the local club have switched to it as well.

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On 7/16/2019 at 6:07 PM, BigBamBoo said:

I do have videos....and I do see some things I could do different. And do try and “fix” those issues....the problem is when the timer goes off, all those things go out the window.

 

was thinking of a course, but there never seems to be any close to my neck of the woods.

Max Leograndis is coming to Keno, OR at the end of August. 2 day class and shooting our local club match in Sunday. If you want to know how to get better, here’s your opportunity. It’s not just for PCC shooters, Lynda Turnbull who’s is also an open shooter will be there as well. 

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On 7/16/2019 at 6:54 PM, BigBamBoo said:

I am in Redding and a member of the Shasta Shooters. And shoot at Tehama as well.

 

it Just seems I am at a stand still.

Plenty of GM and M shooters in Redding, you should be squadding with Ian and Issac. 

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1 hour ago, Marksmansgunsmiths said:

I hands down recommend recording your self and evaluating your movement and dead time don’t worry about splits most of the time it is every other aspect that hold you back I have been posting and would love any insight anyone can give me on my videos 

 

 

Not bad. Doing some good things. I'm only a C and still working out my flaws. Which means, I can tell what I should be doing. So just to help and not criticize 🙂. Watch at 2:12. I still do that and always work to make sure I stay on target and not flinch, it's a tough one. Faster in between your targets (transitions). Keep the gun up, pull trigger soon as you see targets. Shoot on the move. It looks like you are stopping to aim. Practice engaging targets faster, when you can.  It takes lots of work, wish I started this 15 years ago, have a good day. 

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2 hours ago, Marksmansgunsmiths said:

I hands down recommend recording your self and evaluating your movement and dead time don’t worry about splits most of the time it is every other aspect that hold you back I have been posting and would love any insight anyone can give me on my videos 

 

 

You split a 7yd head shot / noshoot partial the same as a close paper, and the same as a distant paper... and I’d wager that’s killing you on 50% of the harder targets if not more.

 

You point the gun at a target for a full second at least a dozen times before breaking the shot. You’re either over-aiming or your index needs a lot of work.

 

Learn to shoot steel cleanly and call your shot so you don’t need to watch it fall.

 

No idea if other stage plans could have prevented it but a standing reload is death, and you (had?) to do them far too often.

 

Your reload speed is killing you.

 

RUN on the long movement, don’t stroll.

You never get up to 50% of your personal max speed.

 

Your transitions need a lot of work and are costing you a lot of lost time per stage.

 

 

 

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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